Content description:
Envelope reads, "Kelly's army." Negative shows a large group of men milling around a make-shift stage. On the stage are three men, one stepping on the stage, one waving a flag, and another giving a speech. The men in crowd are dressed in suits and also work clothes (overalls, etc.). Some men are turned facing the camera and some are listening to the speaker. Kelley's army was a force of around 1,500 unemployed migratory farm laborers and unskilled workers who were recruited by 'General' Charles T. Kelley during a depression in 1914 and was an aftermath of the Wheatland Riot. "Twenty years earlier Kelley had earned his title by leading a California detachment (which included Jack London) of Coxey's Army that had marched on Washington, D.C., to present a 'petition in boots' to Congress. Similarly, in 1914 Kelley's followers had marched on Sacramento to demand legislative aid and were met by a brigade of some 800 deputized citizens armed with pick handles. The 'army' was driven from the capital grounds and the city." from--"A Companion to California" by James D. Hart.